The recession that engulfed the developed world means that emerging economies are now center stage, Russia’s PM Dmitry Medvedev said, adding that fast-growing BRIC countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – are the key to recovery.

“If the world economy has a future, it will be successful only
in case emerging economies take part in it,” Medvedev said in
an online Q&A session with China’s Xinhua news agency.

“I think our economies, the economies of BRICS countries, for
example, and other developing markets are the main economic
growth drivers,” Medvedev said.

He added that most of the developed world was suffering,
including Europe, Russia’s biggest trade partner, as well as the
world’s biggest economy, the US.

“Recently they [the US] had a crisis in relations between the
executive and the parliament, and that had a negative impact on
the interests of the economy as a whole,” Medvedev said,
referring to the 16-day government shutdown and standoff with Congress that
drove the US almost to the brink of an unprecedented default.

The International Monetary Fund has projected that global
economic growth will slow to between 2 percent and 3 percent this
year.

“If we are not able to contribute from the side of emerging
markets, our global economy will remain in semi-depressed
condition,” Medvedev said.

“But we are not going to sleep, we are going to cooperate with
all of the countries which are represented through various
formats, including the G20, BRICS and a number of other forums
where we communicate and discuss the perspectives of the world
economy,” Medvedev said.